Carbon Offsets

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In December 2007, Norway’s then-prime minister Jens Stoltenberg launched Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI). Stoltenberg announced that Norway would be handing out more than US$500 million a year “to prevent deforestation in developing countries”. Stoltenberg was convinced that stopping deforestation would be quick and cheap.

“The operations of Green Resources — a Norwegian industrial forestry plantation and a carbon offsets company — have resulted in loss of lands, livelihoods and increased hunger for the local communities at Kachung and Bukaleba — its two sites in Uganda.”

Dr Tim Frewer carried out part of the research for his PhD thesis in Cambodia, looking at the Oddar Meanchey REDD project. Following the responses from Terra Global Capital and VCS to Fern’s recent critical report that featured a case study of the Oddar Meanchey project, Frewer sent the following Guest Post to REDD-Monitor.

The state of California is keen to include REDD credits in its cap-and-trade programme. California’s governor Jerry Brown worked closely with the oil industry on California’s climate policy, and is pushing for REDD to be allowed to “offset” ongoing pollution in California.

Emissions from flying continue to rise. In 1986, the aviation industry consumed 2.6 million barrels of jet fuel per day. By 2012, the figure had more than doubled, reaching 5.4 million. The impact on the climate is serious, yet the industry’s response has been worse than useless.

On 9 January 2018, Virgin Atlantic told the Phnom Penh Post that it had stopped buying carbon credits from the Oddar Meanchey REDD project in Cambodia. Virgin Atlantic’s decision followed the publication of a report by Fern that highlights the problems of offsetting emissions from the aviation sector. One of the case studies in the report was Oddar Meanchey.

The latest issue of the World Rainforest Movement Bulletin includes an article by Ivonne Yánez of Acción Ecológica in Ecuador about REDD and Rights. It’s cross-posted here with permission. You can subscribe to the World Rainforest Movement Bulletin here.

The Suruí Forest Carbon Project was the first REDD project to be developed and run by indigenous people. The Suruí’s Seventh of September territory covers an area of 248,000 hectares on the border of the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso. The chief of the Suruí, Almir Suruí, has been lauded internationally for his role in promoting the project. He’s been called the Gandhi of the Amazon. In 2013, he won a UN Forest Hero Award.

In July 2017, California voted to extend its cap-and-trade scheme until 2030. Some environmental groups and the oil and gas industry support the legislation. Environmental justice groups oppose it. This post summarises some of the responses to the continuation of cap-and-trade in California.

Norway’s parliament recently approved a plan to become carbon neutral by 2030. But it’s obvious really that Norway’s claims to be addressing climate change are meaningless if at the same time the country continues drilling for oil and gas. A new report from Oil Change International documents Norway’s cognitive dissonance on climate change.

California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) expires in 2020. What will replace it is the subject of intense debate in California. In recent weeks Governor Jerry Brown brought the oil industry to the negotiating table. And earlier this week, Brown and supporting legislators introduced their proposals, based on the oil industry’s wish list: AB 398 and AB 617.

Last year, four academics published a paper in Conservation Biology, with the title, “Questioning REDD+ and the future of market-based conservation”. The paper starts with this memorable line, “Increasingly, one hears furtive whispers in the halls of conservation: ‘REDD+ is dead; it’s time to cut our losses and move on.’”

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REDDisms:

“The Conference will be fundamentally different from its predecessor, Rio 92. The Summit held 20 years ago represented the final stages of long negotiation processes that culminated in the signing of important documents and conventions. In turn, Rio+20 looks to the future, building a new sustainable development agenda. To the extent that Rio 92 was a point of destination, Rio+20 may be considered a point of departure.”